Stronger Bones & Teeth
Everyone knows you need calcium for strong bones and teeth, but to make sure the calcium you do eat can do its job, you also need a good supply of vitamin D - which protects against bone loss. Vitamin D is not really a vitamin at all but a hormone-like substance that the body can only make when it gets enough sunlight. Since 90% of westerners now spend 90% of their waking time indoors, the majority of people do not get enough exposure to sunlight to make enough vitamin D. The UK’s department of health says we need 400IUs (international units) of vitamin D a day to stop the body from leaching calcium from the bones. The trouble is, the typical British diet only provides, on average, 100 IUs per day. Also, the body is better able to use the vitamin D it makes itself than that which it gets from the diet. What all this means is that a growing number of people who are at risk of being deficient in vitamin D and thus also at risk of brittle bone disease.
Osteoporosis now affects one in every three women and one in every 12 men in the UK. Described by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as ‘the silent epidemic” there are often no symptoms until the first fracture, by which time you may have lost a third of your bone density. In women, the menopause can accelerate the problem because levels of the female hormone oestrogen, which helps bones absorb calcium, declines. But all females naturally start to lose bone density from the age of 30 - so don’t think this is only a problem of middle age. There may be no symptoms until a bone has fractured and by the time you are at serious risk of osteoporosis, you may have already lost a third of your starting bone mass.
The World Health Organisation, (WHO), is now predicting that the number of hip fractures could increase six-fold to over six million by the middle of this century. This is why osteoporosis is being called an epidemic, yet one solution could be as simple and as free as safe sunbathing. In studies of elderly populations who have suffered a broken hip, up to 40% have been shown to be lacking in vitamin D. There are also more hip fractures in winter when bone density is at its lowest.
Less Cholesterol & Lower Blood Pressure
Few people realise that sunlight actually lowers blood cholesterol levels and so can be a powerful ally in the fight against the Western World’s biggest killer - heart disease. This works because the body needs the ultraviolet light in sunlight to breakdown cholesterol, which at high levels could otherwise block the arteries.
Both cholesterol, which is needed to make the sex hormones, and vitamin D are derived from the same substance in the body - a chemical called squalene, which is found in the skin. There is a new theory that in the presence of sunlight, this squalene is converted to vitamin D but in its absence, it is converted to cholesterol.
Sunlight can also affect blood pressure. Levels are higher during winter and lowest in the summer. The theory is that without enough vitamin D, triggered by exposure to sunlight, the body increases levels of parathyroid hormone. This hormone not only causes calcium to leach from the bones but also raises blood pressure, leading to a greater risk of cardiovascular disease.
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